The Story With Sarai
by Beverly Hills Chick
Summary: Sarai's new in Beverly Hills and she's got a secret. Who will be there to help her?
1. Default Chapter

A/N: I really hope that you enjoy reading this story as much asIam enjoying writing it. Please RR. Thanks. -)

Chapter 1

"Good morning, Beverly Hills!" The voice on the radio exclaimed. "It's going to be a beautiful day here in Beverly Hills, with lots of sun and a high of 65."

"Oooh, shut up!" Sarai said as she rolled over and slammed her hand down on the radio to shut it off. She sat up in her bed and wiped her eyes. "I really _don't_ want to do this!" She said as she swung her feet around and stood up.

The first thing Sarai did was go to the bathroom to start her shower. After having a shower, she went back to her room to do her hair and makeup and get dressed. She decided to wear her green University of Minneapolis Golden Gophers t-shirt that her brother had gotten her when he started taking classes there the previous fall. She decided to wear it with her favorite blue jeans. She left her long, bleach-blond hair down and put on her Golden Gophers baseball cap.

"Mom!" Sarai called out as she walked downstairs to the living room. "Mom!" She called again.

She walked into the kitchen to find a note on the counter from her mother that said she and Sarai's father had left early for work. Her mom had also written 'GOOD LUCK!' on the note

"Yeah, just what I need! Luck!" Sarai said as she crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it in the trash can. "This place is such a crock, anyway."

Sarai got a box of cereal and a bowl out of the cabinet. She took out a spoon from a drawer and got the milk out of the refrigerator and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She really didn't feel like going to school today. Sarai had just moved to Beverly Hills with her parents from Minneapolis and today was her first day of school at West Beverly High. She didn't really want to be in Beverly Hills at all. She didn't fit in there, and even if she did fit in, no one would understand her or her problems.

Sarai grabbed her backpack out of the closet closest to the front door and headed out to her car, a '65 cherry red Mustang convertible that her brother had bought and completely restored for her. He gave it to her a year ago, when she'd just turned 16 and gotten her license.

Sarai drove to West Beverly High, with at least a million thoughts on her mind, just like she usually had whenever she drove to her old school in Minneapolis.

She turned into the West Beverly High parking lot and found a parking space close to the school. She made sure to hang up her parking permit on her rearview mirror, then picked up her backpack, complete with folders, notebooks, pens and pencils and other various school supplies. She'd also brought her journal with her. Most of the time that journal was the only thing that listened to her, so she wrote her thoughts down in it a lot.

As Sarai walked into the school, she knew people were staring at her. She knew that they'd be able to tell she wasn't one of them, which she definitely wasn't. She didn't want to be one of their kind, either. Sarai had always believed that everyone who lived in Beverly Hills was rich and spoiled.

The first thing Sarai had to do was go to the counselor's office to pick up her class schedule. She already knew where that was, since she'd been there just last week to register for classes.

Sarai opened the door to the counselor's office and went in. The secretary looked up at her.

"Can I help you?" The secretary asked Sarai.

"Yeah. I'm Sarai Greenly. I'm a new student and I need to pick up my class schedule."

"I have that all for ya right here!" The secretary said as she handed Sarai a manila-colored folder. "Your locker assignment and combination are also in there. Your locker will be upstairs on the second floor."

"Thanks." Sarai said as she took the folder and walked out of the office.

Sarai walked up the stairs to the second floor to find her locker. As she rounded a corner in the hallway, she heard a boy talking to her.

"Hey, the Golden Gophers!" The boy exclaimed.

"Yeah? So what's it to ya?" Sarai replied as she opened her locker.

"Nothin' much." The boy replied. "You new around here?"

"Why do you care and more importantly, why do you wanna know?" Sarai asked as she closed her locker and started off down the hall.

"Hey, I'm just trying to make you feel more welcome here and maybe make a new friend." The boy replied, walking alongside Sarai.

"Yeah? Well thanks for rolling out the welcome wagon, but I won't be needing a ride and I most definitely do not need any friends right now and this conversation is so over." Sarai said as she found her homeroom and walked in and took a seat.

"Ouch!" The boy said. The 30-second warning bell rang.

"Good morning West Beverly! This is Jennie with your morning announcements!" A girl's voice blared over the intercom.

Sarai tuned everything out past that point and got her journal out of her backpack and started writing in it. This is what she wrote:

_Dear Journal-_

_Have I told you lately how much life sucks here? Well, I guess it's not really that bad, but it's not really great, either. I miss Minneapolis. Just a little awhile ago, this guy stopped me out in the hall and started talking to me. He noticed my Golden Gophers shirt. He said he was just trying to be friendly and trying to make a new friend. I feel really bad for treating him like how I did and I want to have at least one friend here so badly that I can taste it, but I'm afraid if I let anyone find out anything about me that they won't want to be friends with me, ya know?_

_Last night I was left alone with him again. I stayed locked up in my room for awhile after my mom left to go to her real estate banquet, and when I thought he was asleep I snuck out of my window and walked to the library. I stayed there until 9, and then I walked to the park and listened to the string quartet that was giving a free concert there. After that, I went home. Mom came home at 11._

_I've tried to tell Mom all about what he does, but she won't listen to me. She thinks he's perfect. I'm really afraid that he'll do it again. I still have nightmares about what happened. I still can't believe it happened._

The rest of the morning went by smoothly for Sarai. At 11:45, it was time for lunch, so she went to the cafeteria and got in line.

As she was getting her food, she heard a familiar voice next to her.

"Don't eat those." The voice instructed her as she picked up some cabbage rolls. "They'll make you sick, trust me. Try the chicken salad, that's good."

Sarai looked up.

"Oh, it's you again." She said as she went about getting her food. It was the boy she'd talked to earlier. "What do you want?"

"What's your name?" The boy asked.

"Why are you so interested in talking to me?" Sarai asked as she paid for her food and left the counter and found a seat by herself at an empty table.

Sarai learned that she had three classes with that same boy that afternoon. She'd heard his name mentioned once during the roll call in one of her classes, but she couldn't remember it, and frankly, she didn't care what it was.

He was in her 5th period, 7th period and 8th period classes. 8th period American Literature was the last class of the day. He made sure he caught her after that class, too.

"Hey! Golden Gophers!" The boy called out as they left the class.

"Ooh!" Sarai groaned. "You know, you are really annoying! Can't you take a hint that I don't want to talk to you?"

"Hey, what's your problem?" He asked. "Ever since you got here you've been acting like you've got some big chip on your shoulders. I've gone out of my way to be nothing but nice to you all day long and all you can do is be rude!"

"I wouldn't be so rude if you'd just leave me alone!" Sarai said as she unlocked her locker.

"Fine! If that's the way you want to be, I guess you don't deserve any friends!" The boy said as he started to walk away.

"Wait!" Sarai said, as she realized that she might be pushing away the only person in the school who might be her friend. "My name's Sarai."

"Huh?" The boy asked as he turned around.

"Sarai. My name's Sarai."

"Brandon." The boy said as he walked back and extended his right hand out to Sarai. "Say, where'd you get that shirt, anyway?"

"From my brother Matt." Sarai answered. "He goes to the University of Minneapolis."

"Are you from Minneapolis?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah. My family just moved here."

"No kidding!" Brandon said. "I'm originally from Minneapolis, too!"

"Really?" Sarai asked. "When did you move here?"

"Last summer." Brandon said as the two of them walked out to the student parking lot. "Me and my twin started here last fall."

"There's two of you?" Sarai asked.

"Well, I mean my twin sister. Her name's Brenda. She should be coming out here soon." Brandon said as he looked over his shoulder to see if he could find Brenda. "Here she comes now." He said. "Hey, Brenda, I'd like you to meet Sarai. She just moved here from Minneapolis."

"Really?" Brenda asked. "Hi Sarai. I'm Brenda, Brandon's sister."

"Hi." Sarai replied.

The three stopped when they reached Sarai's car.

"Hey, is this your car?" Brenda asked. "It's really nice!"

"Yeah. It's a '65 cherry red Mustang Convertible. I got it for my 16th birthday from my brother. He likes to restore old cars in his spare time."

"It's very cool!" Brenda said.

"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow!" Brandon yelled at Sarai as he Brenda continued walking.

"OK!" Sarai yelled back. She turned to get into her car.

"Hey!" Brandon yelled back at her. Sarai looked up.

"Yeah?" She yelled back.

"Loose some of the 'tough girl' attitude, but not all of it! I think you'll fit in perfectly if you keep some of it!" He yelled.

Sarai smiled. "I'll try!" She yelled as she got in the car.

For the first time since she'd moved to Beverly Hills, Sarai actually felt happy. She may have just actually made a couple new friends who might actually understand how much she missed her old home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So that brings us to your assignment. You'll be pairing up with someone else in the class and you'll need to interview people about a topic the two of you will choose together. The topic should be something relating to current events or a current event. You should be prepared to create a 15-minute video about your topic, in which you will actually interview your subjects. The school has video equipment which you may borrow for this purpose if you need it. Your topics are due by Friday. If there are two groups with the same topic, whoever got their idea to me first is the group that gets to do it. You'll also need to hand in a list of at least five interview questions on Friday. Any questions please see me. I'm now going to give you the remainder of the class period to choose your partner and start thinking about topics." Mr. Reynolds, the Current Events teacher said.

Everyone moved. Sarai picked up her stuff and went to the back of the room, where Brandon was.

"You wanna work with me?" She asked.

"I'd love to." Brandon replied.

"Great!" Sarai said as she sat down at the empty desk next to him. "So, any ideas? I was thinking about wage and gender discrimination."

"That's good." Brandon said. "I'll start making a list of ideas." He said as he flipped open his notebook and wrote Sarai's idea down. The he thought for a minute.

"What about race discrimination? We could see how people feel about that and what they think should be done about it." He suggested.

"That's good, too."

Brandon thought for a little bit longer. "Brenda helped a girl last year who was a victim of date rape." He said. "It would be really interesting to see what people think of how the criminal justice system handles sex offenders and what they think they could improve upon. It'd also be cool to learn about how they handle things for the victims."

Sarai started to get nervous. "Um, yeah." She said.

"Does that sound like a good topic?" Brandon asked.

"Uh, sounds great." Sarai replied. _"Oh no!"_ She thought in her mind. _"This isn't good! What if everyone finds out?"_

"OK, then." Brandon said. "We've got our topic. Now we need to come up with some interview questions."'

The bell rang for class to be over with. Everyone got up.

"Are you free tonight?" Brandon asked as he picked up his stuff.

"Yeah." Sarai said as she picked up hers.

"Do you wanna meet to create those questions?"

"Sounds cool to me." Sarai replied. "Where do you wanna meet at?"

"My house or yours." Brandon said. "It doesn't matter to me."

Sarai thought for a minute. She definitely didn't want him coming over to her house. She'd be there alone with him again that night and she didn't need Brandon to find out anything that had been happening.

"Let's meet at your house." She said.

"Great! Here's my address." Brandon said as he scribbled it down on a piece of paper. "7 o'clock OK?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Sarai said. "I'll see you then."

After Sarai had finished her homework from her other classes and gotten something to eat, she packed up her backpack and headed downstairs so she could go to Brandon's house. It was already 6:30. Her dad was sitting in the living room watching TV. He looked up at her when he heard her come down.

"You look really nice." He said. "Where ya goin'?"

"Over to a friend's house to work on an assignment." Sarai said as gulped. She felt like she had a lump in her throat. "I'll be back before 10." She said as she turned to walk out the front door.

"Listen!" Sarai's dad said as he grabbed her firmly by the arm. "You better not tell any of your friends about me, you got it? If you do, you can mark my words that I'll make your life a living Hell!" He then let go of her arm.

"Uh huh." Sarai quietly said as she walked out.

When she got to the car, Sarai started crying. "Damn!" She yelled when she got in the car, tears streaming down her face. "Make my life a living Hell? How could he possibly do that any more than he already has?" She yelled again.

Sarai knew she needed to tell someone about her problem, but she was scared to.

_ "Come on Sarai, talk to someone! Anyone!" _She told herself. _"You can do it, I know you can!"_

Sarai took a deep breath before she backed out the driveway. She knew just who she needed to tell, and she hoped that person would listen to her and still be her friend.

Sarai had no trouble finding the Walsh home. She parked her car in the driveway and walked up to the front door. She took a deep breath again. _"Everything's gonna be just fine." _She told herself.

Sarai rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. A woman answered it.

"Hello. Can I help you?" The woman asked.

"Yeah. Is Brandon home?" Sarai asked.

"You must be Sarai." The woman said, smiling. "I'm Brandon's mom. Come on in."

Brenda, who was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, looked up.

"Hi, Sarai." She said.

"Hi." Sarai answered.

"He's upstairs, Sarai. You can go on up. It's the third door on the left." Mrs. Walsh said, pointing Sarai in the direction of the stairs.

"Thank you." Sarai said as she headed toward the stairs.

Sarai walked up the stairs to Brandon's room. She could hear music playing. She knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Brandon yelled.

Sarai opened the door.

"Oh hey, Sarai." Brandon said as he threw a Nerf football at her. "Think fast!"

Sarai caught the ball and threw it back at him, then walked in the room.

"You ready to get started?" He asked.

"Um, yeah." Sarai said as she sat down next to him on the bed. "But first, I have to tell you something. You have to swear on your own grave that you won't tell anyone else about this!"

"I promise I won't tell a soul. Now spill it." Brandon said as he shut off the stereo.

Sarai took a deep breath. "There's no easy way to say this, and I hope you'll still want to be friends with me after I tell you this, but here goes. My dad. . ." She started.

"Your dad, _what?"_

"I'm sorry. I. . .I'm just having a hard time saying this and I. . .I can't." Sarai said as she got up from the bed, tears streaming down her face.

"Well please try to, because you're scaring me to death. Come on," Brandon said as he got up and walked Sarai back over to the bed. "Just sit down and tell me what's up. It's just you and I in here and I promise anything you say won't go past that door."

Sarai started crying harder. "My dad. He. . .he's been molesting me since I was 12."

Brandon put his arm around her. "I'm so sorry." He said.

"That's not even the worst of it." Sarai cried, even harder. "Two months ago, he raped me."

"Are you OK? I mean, did you go see a doctor after it happened?" Brandon asked.

Sarai wiped away the tears from her eyes. "Yeah," she nodded. "I went to a non-profit women's clinic in Minneapolis. They said I was fine, but I didn't tell them what I was really there for. I told them I was just there for a physical, because I was afraid that if I told them about what had happened they'd call the cops and then he'd really come after me. Brandon, I'm so scared to be left alone with him that most nights when I do have to be alone in that house with him I sneak out of my bedroom window to leave that house and I don't come back until I know my mom's home. He won't try anything with someone else in the house. I have nightmares about him doing it and when I have them I wake up in cold sweats."

"Have you told your mom about what's going on or anyone else in your family?"

"I've tried telling Mom and Matt about it, but they won't believe me. Every time I bring it up it just causes an argument. They think he's perfect." Sarai said.

"Sarai, have you gotten any help at all with this? I think you really need help." Brandon said, still keeping his arm around her.

"No. I can handle it." Sarai said, still crying.

"Sarai, you need help." Brandon replied.

"No I don't!" Sarai exclaimed.

"Sarai, he's really going to hurt you one of these days if you don't get help." Brandon said. "Didn't you say that your mom usually works until 8 PM on Wednesdays showing houses?"

"Yeah." Sarai replied.

"I tell you what, give me your address and phone number. I have to work tomorrow night at The Peach Pit until 7:45, but I'm coming over tomorrow night after I get out of work to check on you. If I find that he's done anything else to you, I'm calling the cops, do you understand? You can't live like this. I promise you that if that does happen, I'll come up with a way to get you to safety before he even has another chance to hurt you. Nobody messes around with Brandon Walsh or his friends because I won't let them. Here." He said, handing Sarai a pad of paper and a pen from his desk.

"Thanks." Sarai said as she wrote down her address and phone number. "Do you mind if I just hang out for a little while, until about 10, and not do any homework? I don't really feel like doing any right now, especially not if it's something that I'm a victim of. It's also been a really long time since I've actually had any real, good friends to hang out with. They all kinda got cut out of my life when I started having all of these problems."

"Sure!" Brandon replied. "But do you still want to do our topic?"

"You know what? I think it's an excellent topic and we should most definitely do it. Talking to someone about my experiences with it has definitely made me feel a lot better, and maybe if we stress that it's not such a taboo subject, more people will be willing to talk about it and get help if they need it." Sarai said.

Brandon smiled. The two of them got up off of the bed.

"Did you really mean that, about me being a good friend?" Brandon asked.

"Of course." Sarai replied. "In fact, you're probably my only friend right now."

"What about Brenda?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah, but I haven't talked to her as much as I have you." Sarai said.

"You should. She's a great friend to have. I should know, I've known her since I was 30 seconds old.

Sarai let out a little laugh.

"If you want more friends, I'll have to introduce you to the rest of my crew. There's Dylan, that's my best friend, Steve and David, although I'm not as good of friends with David as I am with the others. You might like him, though. You'll have to meet Kelly, Donna and Andrea, too." Brandon said as they walked out of the room. "C'mon, let's go see what Brenda's up to."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I know this a long chapter, but it's very important to the rest of the story. I promise you that I've tried to make it as enjoyable as possible, though. -) Also, I can't figure out how to keep this in my original formatting from when I first typed it, so if anyone knows how to get back so that it looks better, please let me know. Thanks.

Chapter 3

"Sarai! Wait!" Brenda yelled as she ran to catch up with her in the hall at school the next day. Sarai stopped.

"Hey." Brenda said.

"Hey." Sarai answered. The two of them started walking again.

"What's up?" Brenda asked.

"Nothin' much," Sarai replied. "Just going to History."

"I have English next." Brenda said. "Sarai, Brandon told me all about what you told him last night. We both think that's it terrible what happened to you, and if there's anything I can do to help, please don't be afraid to ask. I want to help in any way possible, and I mean it."

"Thanks." Sarai said, smiling at Brenda.

"I also wanted to invite you to sit with me and the other girls today at lunch. I think you'd like them." Brenda said.

"Really? Thanks!" Sarai replied. "You just made my day!"

"Well, I figured you can only sit by yourself so many times before you start going crazy by not having anyone to talk to."

"So true!" Sarai said with a little laugh. "I'll look for you in the cafeteria, but right now, this is my class, so I'll see you later." Sarai said as she stopped by the door.

"I'll save you a seat." Brenda said. "See you later!"

When lunch came, Sarai got her food and looked for Brenda in the cafeteria.

"Sarai! Over here!" She heard Brenda yelled.

Sarai looked around and saw Brenda waving her arms around, then walked over to the table, where she sat her food down.

"Sarai, I'd like you to meet Donna Martin, Kelly Taylor and Andrea Zuckerman. Guys, this is Sarai Greenly. She just moved here from Minneapolis. I invited her to eat lunch with us because she needs some serious gal pals."

"Well," Donna said before taking a drink out of her can of Diet Coke, "we are always happy to have another 'gal pal'!"

"So, Sarai, tell us more about yourself." Kelly said.

Sarai spent the whole lunch period talking to the girls, and she felt she'd left the cafeteria with four new friends. She didn't tell them about her dad, though. Having Brenda and Brandon know about him was enough for now. She figured she'd tell everyone else about him later, once she got to know them better. She didn't want to scare them away from her.

When she got home that afternoon, the first thing Sarai did was start on her homework. She hated to leave it for the last minute and thought it was just easier to do it first thing.

Around 5 o'clock, she heated up some left-over pizza in the microwave for dinner and took it upstairs, along with a can of Diet Coke, for dinner. On the nights when she had to be alone with her dad, she usually ate dinner alone in her room with the door locked. She'd either watch TV, listen to the radio, or read for the rest of the night, if she felt she could concentrate on it enough. Some nights she'd sneak out, just to get away from him.

At about 7:30, her dad walked into the room.

"How. . .how did you get in here?" Sarai stammered, sitting straight up on the bed.

"I have all the spare keys to all the rooms in this house." Mr. Greenly said as he walked closer to her. He sat down next to her on the bed.

"I haven't seen much of you lately." He said. "Why?"

"I've been busy. With school." Sarai answered, suddenly starting to feel uncomfortable.

"You're very beautiful." Sarai's dad said as he touched her chest. "You remind me of your mother when she was younger. You look just like her."

Sarai moved farther away. He pushed her down on the bed.

"You haven't told anyone about our little secret, have you?" He said in a threatening tone as he kept one hand on her throat.

Sarai shook her head, even though it was a lie. She was too scared to talk.

"Good, 'cuz we're gonna have another night of fun!" Mr. Greenly said. "I've been thinking about this and planning it for a long time!"

Tears started running down Sarai's face again as she thought of the first time he raped her. Then she heard the front door close.

"Sarai!" Brandon yelled.

"BRANDON!" She screamed.

"Shut up!" Mr. Greenly yelled as he clamped his hand down over her mouth.

"NOOO!" Sarai cried, her cries muffled from his hand. "NOOO! OH NOOO!"

Brandon ran up the stairs, frantically searching for Sarai. When he found her and her dad in her room, he stopped.

"BRANDON!" She yelled again.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Mr. Greenly yelled.

"Let her go!" Brandon said from the doorway.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Greenly said as he turned and faced Brandon.

"I said let her go!"

"YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T TELL ANYBODY! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Mr. Greenly yelled at Sarai.

Sarai cried.

"YOU'RE GOIN' WITH HER, TOO, PRETTY BOY!" Mr. Greenly yelled at Brandon. He then stormed out of the room and down the stairs.

"Are you alright?" Brandon asked as he rushed over to Sarai and sat down next to her on the bed.

Sarai sat up. Brandon reached out his arms to hug her, and she collapsed in them, crying hard and shaking.

"You're alright now." Brandon said, trying to comfort her by keeping her in his arms and rubbing her back.

Sarai looked up at him. "Brandon, he's got guns. What he said wasn't a joke. He's threatened to kill me before if I told anyone about him!"

"Then you need to get out of here! Here!" He said as he reached in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his car keys and a quarter. "Go out of that window and take my car down to Dixie's Corner Market. When you get there, use the pay phone and call 911. I'll stay here and stall him so he doesn't come looking for you until the police come."

Sarai took the keys and the quarter.

"I'll be fine! Now go!" Brandon exclaimed.

Sarai did as she was instructed and climbed out of the window and ran out to Brandon's car. She drove down to Dixie's, going at least 10 miles over the speed limit, but she didn't care if she got stopped or not. In fact, she thought it'd be better if she did get stopped because then she might not have to call the police. She could just ask them to go to her house.

"Hello?" Sarai frantically said to the dispatcher on the phone.

"How may I assist you today?" The dispatcher answered.

"Yeah, my name's Sarai Greenly. I live at 504 West Beverly Court. My dad has just threatened to kill me and my best friend." Sarai said, crying into the phone. "I need you to send the police over to my house right away! My best friend is still in there!"

"Calm down, Ms. Greenly. We're sending someone over right now. Just calm down, sweetie. Everything's gonna be alright and it's all under control." The dispatcher said. "It's showing on my radar that there should already be a car at your house."

"Thank you!" Sarai said as she quickly hung up the phone, and then ran back to the car.

Sarai quickly drove back home. When she got there, there were two police cars besides her mom's car there.

"Sarai, what's going on?" Mrs. Greenly asked Sarai as Sarai got out of Brandon's car. "And where did you get that car from?" She asked about Brandon's car.

"Mom, do you remember all that stuff I told you about Dad? What you wouldn't believe and everything?" Sarai asked.

"Yes." Mrs. Greenly said, confused.

"Well, I told one of my friends about it yesterday. He said when he got out of work tonight he was coming over to check on me and make sure he hadn't tried to do anything else. Well, Dad did try and when my friend got here and found out what was going on, he came upstairs to my room, where we were and Dad threatened to kill both of us. When he left my room, Brandon, that's my friend, told me to get out of here and go call the police. That's his car over there that he let me use to go to the party store down the street so I could call. He stayed here so Dad wouldn't come after me." Sarai said as she tried to swallow back tears.

A gun shot rang out, then a few police officers went in the house.

"Oh no!" Sarai cried. "He killed him, I know he did!" She felt like throwing up.

A few minutes later, Sarai saw a couple of police officers escorting Brandon out of the front door. He seemed to be walking fine, but his right arm was raised up and dripping with blood. One of the officers took Brandon out to a squad car, while another one approached Sarai.

"Are you Sarai Greenly?" The officer asked.

"Yeah." Sarai answered as she wiped away some tears. "Is Brandon alright?"

"He's going to be fine. He got shot in the right arm, but it doesn't look like it's anything serious. We're calling out for an ambulance to come take him to the hospital, but I can assure you that it's non-life threatening. As for you, we need you to go sit in the car with him. You're going to be taken down to the police station to file a report, then we need to question you about what happened. When Brandon gets released from the hospital, he'll be joining you at the police station for questioning."

Sarai nodded. "I understand." She said.

"As for your dad, he's going into custody. You and Brandon should be prepared to go to court for his hearing so you can talk to the judge. In the mean time, do you have any other relatives around here that you can stay with? You can't stay here."

"No." Sarai answered. "I just moved here with my parents a couple of weeks ago. What about my mom?"

"We're afraid that if your dad knows where she is and you're with her, he may try to do something again. Therefore, we need you to stay with someone else other than her." The officer said. "We can always take you to the Department of Children and Family Services, too. If you live there, you'll basically be a ward of the state and could possibly be placed in a foster home until it's determined if you can come back and stay with your family or not or until you reach the age of 18, which ever comes first."

Sarai shook her head in understanding. The officer escorted her to the car that Brandon was in and helped her get in it.

"How's your arm?" She asked as he kept it slightly elevated. He had a piece of cloth wrapped tightly around it to absorb the blood and help slow the bleeding.

"It's alright." Brandon said. "It hurts a little. . .well, OK, a lot, but they say I'll be fine. Are you alright?"

"I'm still scared. They might send me to live in a foster home until all of this gets worked out or until I turn 18, since I don't have any relatives around here. They said I can't stay with my mom because they're afraid that if he knows where she is and he knows that I'm with her then he might try something again." Sarai answered.

"Son, we need your name and phone number so we can call your parents." A police officer said as he approached Brandon.

"My name's Brandon Walsh and my phone number is 555-7348. My parents' names are Jim and Cindy Walsh."

The police officer crawled back into the driver's seat of the car.

"Marianne, this is Dawn. I need you to call a Jim and Cindy Walsh. Their son Brandon was at the house at 504 West Beverly Court. I need to tell them that he's going to the hospital for a gunshot wound in the right arm. Please tell them that it's non-life threatening and that after he does get out the hospital he'll need to come down to the station for questioning. The number is 555-7348." The police officer said over the CB radio in the car.

"555-7348?" The woman replied.

"Yes. Thank you." The officer said.

Sarai watched as two other officers escorted her dad out of the house in handcuffs. She silently cried, wishing that everything could go back to the way it was before all of this started happening.

Sarai heard sirens from an ambulance. The ambulance came down the street and stopped at her house. One of the police officers came and helped Brandon get out of the car.

"I'll see you at the police station." Brandon said as he got out of the car. "Good luck."

Sarai nodded, then continued looking out the window. She saw a local TV news van pull up.

"_Oh great!" _She thought to herself._ "Now it's going to be broadcast all over TV and everyone in Beverly Hills will know about me."_

"Excuse me, are you one of the victims?" A news reporter asked Sarai. Brandon's door had been left open.

"Yes." Sarai said.

"Would you mind sharing your story with me?" The reporter asked as she took a pen and some paper out of her pocket.

"No, I really don't want to." Sarai answered.

The reporter then turned and walked away from the car.

Brandon sat in the Emergency Room at Beverly Hills Hospital, waiting for a doctor to come in and get the bullet out of his arm. He kept thinking about Sarai and wondering how she was holding up. He also kept thinking that if he hadn't shown up at her house earlier that she could've been seriously hurt or even dead.

"Excuse me, but can you please tell me what room Brandon Walsh is in? I'm his mother and we were told we could find him here." He heard his mom asking one of the nurses at the nursing station.

"Of course! He's in room 2." The nurse said as she looked at a chart. "The doctor hasn't been in to see him yet.

Brenda was the first one to run in the room and hug him. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He said. "I'm a little worried about Sarai, though."

"What happened?" Brenda asked as she sat down in a chair.

"I went over to her house to check on her after I got out of work. When I got there, her dad was upstairs in her room where she was and he was going to rape her again. When he found out that she'd told me about him, he threatened to kill both of us. I had her take my car down to Dixie's Market to call the police while I stayed there. Her dad fired a gun at me, but I tried to move out of the way of the bullet. It got me in the right arm, though. The cops took Sarai down to the police station for questioning and to file a report and after I get out of here I have to go there to answer some questions, too."

Jim and Cindy ran into the room and hugged Brandon.

"We are so happy that you're alright!" Cindy said. "What were you doing over, there, anyway?"

Brandon told the whole story to his parents.

"Where's Sarai?" Jim asked.

"She's at the police station filing a report and getting questioned, just like I have to do when I get out of here. They're not letting her go back to live with her parents. Her mom didn't do anything to her, but they're afraid if she's with her mom and her dad knows it then he might come back and try something again. Since she has no relatives around here, she may end up in foster care."

"She's not going to foster care." Cindy said.

"What!" Jim asked, confused about what his wife was talking about.

"I can't do it. I can't allow her to go into foster care. She just moved here, and I think it'll be too much for her to have to move again. What she really needs right now is good friends who are supportive of her. I want her to stay with us."

"Mom, are you sure?" Brenda asked.

"I'm positive." Cindy replied. "She can sleep in the guest room. This way she'll be with people she knows and she won't have to make that big of a move."

"I don't think I've ever loved you as much as I do now." Brenda said as she hugged Cindy.

After the bullet had been removed from his arm and his arm had been stitched up, Jim and Cindy drove Brandon to the Beverly Hills Police Department. Brandon didn't exactly have fond memories of the Beverly Hills Police Department. He kept thinking of when he'd been arrested and lodged there the year before for drunk driving. That was the worst possible mistake he had ever made. Jim, Cindy and Brenda walked in with him, but were told they couldn't go in with him when he was questioned. The only other person allowed to be with him was Sarai.

After Sarai had been questioned, it was his turn. Brandon made sure he explained everything in the best detail possible. He tried not to leave anything out.

"Thank you kids for your time." The officer said as he walked out of the room with Sarai and Brandon and to the lobby where Jim, Cindy and Brenda were waiting for them. "Sarai, we're going to make your safety our number one priority. Please call if you need anything or if we can be of further assistance to you."

"Thanks. I will." Said a still shaken-up Sarai.

"Oh, wait!" The officer said before he left the room. "We still have the issue of where you're going to stay at while this all being worked out. You have two choices. We can contact any of your relatives in Minnesota and see if you can stay with them or we can contact the Department of Children and Family services. If you go there, you'll be put in a shelter for homeless kids and will basically become a ward of the state."

"Officer, we'd like Sarai to come stay with us, if it's possible.

"Are you sure?" Sarai asked, tears forming again in her eyes.

"Yes." Cindy said. "I think you need us right now."

"Hold on." The officer said. "Let me go make some phone calls and I'll see if Sarai can go home with you."

The police officer went and made his phone calls before returning.

"Sarai, if you want to, and if the Walshs feel that it's within your best interests, you may go home with them and stay with them until everything is all under control." The officer said.

Sarai turned and ran to Cindy, with tears in her eyes and hugged her.

"Jim and Cindy, since Sarai is only 17, you should be prepared to take classes to become state certified foster parents if she has to remain in your care until she reaches 18, just so the State of California doesn't come back on you. How long Sarai will be staying with you will be determined when Scott Greenly, her father, goes to trial. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday and after that a trial date will be set. Sarai, if there's anything you need from your house, you can call us tomorrow and we'll send an officer over to get you and take you back to the house. Since it's a crime scene and investigators will be working over there tomorrow, you'll need to be with an officer when you go over there."

Sarai shook her head in understanding.

"You guys have a good night and thank you for your time." The officer said as he turned and left.

"Come on. Let's go home." Jim said as he started to walk out. The others followed behind.

When they got home, Brenda took Sarai up to the room she'd be sleeping in.

"This is where you'll sleep. My room's right next door to the right and Brandon's is next door to the left. The bathroom is right across the hall. You'll be sharing that with me and Brandon. He says I'm a bathroom hog, but he's the real bathroom hog, so you can kick him out if you have to. My parents' room is right down the hall on the left."

Sarai sat down on the bed.

"Wanna talk?" Brenda asked as she sat down next to her.

"I don't get it." Sarai said. "Why me? He's my dad. The same person who said he loved me more than anything in the world when I was a little girl. If he loved me so much, why did he put me through this Hell?"

"He's mentally sick, Sarai. He's crazy." Brenda said.

"I feel like I must've done something to deserve this."

"You didn't do anything. He's the one that's wrong, so don't you feel bad for anything." Brenda replied.

"You guys might wanna come watch the news." Brandon said from the doorway.

"We're coming." Brenda answered.

Brenda and Sarai got up off of the bed and walked downstairs to the living room, where the TV was turned on.

"We have breaking news about an incident on the west side of Beverly Hills." A news anchor on the television said.

Brandon, Brenda, Cindy, Jim and Sarai attentively watched the TV.

"WHBH's Carla Sitroni has more." The anchor said. "Carla?"

The camera then switched over and showed a picture of Sarai's house.

"Hi Jack." Carla said. "I'm here at 504 West Beverly Court. Earlier tonight, a man was taken into custody by the Beverly Hills police when he tried to kill his 17-year-old daughter and her 17-year-old friend. It started shortly after 7:30 PM, when the girl's friend came over to her house to see her after he got out of work from his job at a local restaurant. The friend came in the house and found the girl's father about to rape her. The man then threatened to kill both of the teenagers. The girl managed to escape to call the police, but he friend remained in the house. Gunshots were fired and the girl's friend was struck in the right arm with a bullet. He was taken to Beverly Hills Hospital, where he was treated and released. The names of the suspect and the victims are all being kept anonymous at the request of the victims. No fatalities were reported. Back to you, Jack."

"Thank you, Carla. I'm glad no one was hurt." Jack said.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." Sarai said as she headed back up the stairs.

"Hold on and you can borrow some pajamas." Brenda said as she followed her up the stairs.

Sarai couldn't wait for her father's trial. She didn't want to go back to living with him, and she wasn't sure she wanted to live with her mother if her dad had to go to prison, since she never believed anything Sarai had told her about her father, anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Sarai. Come on, Honey. It's time to get up." Cindy said as she gently shook Sarai's shoulder.

"Uumm." Sarai mumbled as she snuggled up under the covers and clutched her pillow.

"I take it you slept well last night?" Cindy asked.

Sarai opened her left eye but kept her right eye closed and looked up at Cindy.

"Um hmm." She said as she nodded her head yes and stretched her arms.

"Well, you have to get up. It's already 6:30 and you've got stuff to do today. You have to call the police and have one of them come and pick you up so you can go get your stuff. You've already got a call from school and they said the police have notified them of your situation and that you'll be staying here until further notice and they said you don't have to come back to school until you feel ready for it. They want to allow you some time to get through all of this mess. Your mom also called. She wants to meet you for lunch at Diane's Deli so she can talk to you." Cindy said. She then got up off of the bed and walked out of the room.

Sarai sat up. She could already hear Brenda and Brandon across the hall arguing over who was going to use the bathroom first.

"You used it first yesterday!" Brenda said.

"But you got to it first every day last week!" Brandon argued. "Now it's my turn!" Brandon then walked into the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind him.

"Uhh! Mom!" Brenda yelled.

Sarai smiled. It was the infamous "Who Gets to Use the Bathroom First" argument. She used to get in those arguments all the time with Matt when he was living at home. She remembered all of the stupid things they used to fight over. Her favorite memory was when she was 8 and 11 and they had an actual brawl in the living room over who was going to watch TV and what they were going to watch. Sarai, who'd always been the stronger of the two, actually won the fight but when they got caught neither one of them got to watch TV for the rest of the day. She thought it was such a stupid thing to fight over now, but she wished everything was as good now as it was then. Everyone was happy.

Sarai put her old clothes from the day before on in her room and then went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning Sarai." Jim greeted her as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning." Sarai answered, then sat down at the kitchen table.

"Hey Sarai." Brandon said as he walked through the kitchen. "You hungry?"

"Whaddaya got ?" Sarai asked.

Brandon walked over to the cabinet where the cereal was kept.

"For your fine dining pleasure today's specials are Lucky Charms, Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes and Raisin Bran." He said as he read the cereal boxes to her.

Sarai smiled a little smile.

"Lucky Charms." She answered.

"Wait! Was that a smile?" Brandon asked. "Did I make you smile?"

"A little." Sarai answered. "Don't let it boost your ego, though. It's already big enough."

Brandon got out two bowls and opened the box.

"What ego?" He asked as he threw a clover marshmallow at her.

Sarai threw the marshmallow back. It landed in his hair.

"Alright, children, that's enough!" Cindy said as she walked into the kitchen. "I swear teenagers can sometimes be worse than children."

"So, Sarai. Brenda and I have agreed to pick up your homework for you so you won't fall behind. If you need help understanding how to do any of it, just ask." Brandon said as he set her bowl of cereal down in front of her and then took a seat across from her.

The phone started ringing.

"I'll get it." Jim said as he set his coffee down on the table. "Hello?" He spoke into the phone. "Oh yeah, hi. Yeah, she's right here. Just a minute." He told the person on the other line. "Sarai, it's for you." He said as he handed the phone to Sarai.

"Hello?" Sarai greeted the person on the other end of line.

"Hello. Is this Sarai Greenly?" The other person asked.

"Yes. I'm Sarai."

"Sarai, this is Robert Casaluce. I work for the City of Beverly Hills as an attorney for children or people who are low-income. How are you?"

"Honestly, I think I could be doing a little better." Sarai answered.

"I was referred to your case this morning." Robert said. I'd like to meet with you and Brandon Walsh to ask you some questions about your father this afternoon. I assume that you already know that your home at 504 West Beverly Court is being searched by investigators today for evidence that he may have sexually assaulted you."

"Yeah. They told me that was going to happen last night at the police station." Sarai answered.

"Sarai, I need to be honest with you." Robert said. "It appears that there could be a very good chance that your father may do some time in a state penitentiary if enough evidence is found. Therefore, you need to be prepared to go to trial. The same goes for Mr. Walsh, as he was a witness to this and he is a very crucial party in this case. This is why I need to speak to the both you this afternoon. Any particular time you'd like to meet?"

"Could you please hold on for just a minute?" Sarai asked. "Brandon, you don't have to work this afternoon, do you?" She asked.

"No." Brandon replied in between bites of cereal.

"Good. There's an attorney by they name of Robert Casaluce that wants to talk to us about my dad this afternoon. He needs some more information about him."

"Are you still there?" Sarai asked Robert.

"Yeah, I'm here." Robert replied.

"Is 4 o'clock a problem?" Sarai asked.

"No, 4 o'clock is fine." Robert said.

"OK. We're at 784 Wildwood Circle." Sarai said.

"784 Wildwood Circle?" Robert repeated.

"Yes." Sarai answered.

"Great. I'll see you at 4 PM." Robert said, then hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Brenda asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"That was Robert Casaluce. He's an attorney with the City of Beverly Hills. He represents children or low-income people." Sarai answered as she started eating her cereal. "He's coming over this afternoon to ask me and Brandon some questions about my dad."

"Ooh, good luck with that!" Brenda said as she poured herself a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

"He said there's a very good chance that my dad could do some time in prison if he's found guilty. Brandon, he wants you and me to be prepared to go to trial. You might need to testify, since you were a witness to what happened last night."

"If that's the case, I'm here for ya." Brandon said, flashing a smile at Sarai. "Whoa, Bren, we gotta go!" He said as he looked at his watch and then jumped up from his chair. Brenda finished her last spoonful of cereal and was right behind him.

"See you guys later." Brenda said as she followed Brandon out the backdoor to the car.

Jim then looked down at his watch.

"I should also hit the road." He said. He gave Cindy a quick kiss on the lips, picked up his briefcase and headed to the door.

"See you later, Sarai." He said as he waved at her.

"Bye, Honey." Cindy called out behind him.

"So, what do you do here all by yourself during the day?" Sarai asked Cindy as she helped her clear the dishes off of the table and load them into the dishwasher.

"Cleaning, reading, gardening, whatever." Cindy said. "I was thinking," she said as she turned and faced Sarai. "That after you go back home and get your stuff and meet your mom for lunch that you and I should go to the mall. Kinda "hang out" a little this afternoon."

"Really?" Sarai asked.

"Yeah. Whaddaya think?"

"It sounds great!" Sarai exclaimed. "I haven't been to any of the malls around here yet.

"OK. We'll go after you get back from lunch. Sarai, I'm so glad you decided to stay here." Cindy said as she hugged her. "You're a good kid."

"Thanks." Sarai replied. "It's been awhile since I've heard that."

Sarai called the police and had someone come to pick her up and take her back to her house so she could get her stuff. She managed to get all of her clothes, tapes and CDs, some books, her make up and her personal hygiene items from the bathroom. She'd taken it back to the Walsh's and was now waiting for her mother. She'd called her mom at work and they agreed to meet at The Peach Pit for lunch, which was where she now was.

Sarai sat at the counter and watched the door. She finally saw her mom come in.

"Hi, Mom. Over here." She waved.

Mrs. Greenly came over and took the seat next to her.

"What can I get you ladies?" The waiter asked.

"I'll have the Steak Fajitas with a Diet Pepsi." Mrs. Greenly said as she glanced at the menu.

"Just a Grilled Cheese and a Diet Pepsi for me, please." Sarai ordered.

"Nat, I have two Steak Fajitas and one Grilled Cheese!" The waiter called out to Nat, who was making the orders. He then hung up the order slip on a strip for Nat.

"So how are you?" Mrs. Greenly asked as she took a sip from her Diet Pepsi, which the waiter had just sat down in front of her.

"I'm OK." Sarai answered. "You?"

"I'm alright."

"Good." Sarai said. Her relationship with her mom wasn't the best, either.

"Are you happy now, Sarai?" Mrs. Greenly asked.

The waiter set their food down in front of them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarai asked as she took a drink from her pop.

"Well isn't this what you wanted? To get out of our house and family?"

"What!" Sarai asked. "I can't believe you! This was NEVER about me, you, dad and Matt! It's always been about ME and Dad! Mom, he molested and raped me! When I tried to tell you what was going on, you completely ignored me. You were too busy selling your 300,000 homes and pretending to be the "all-around perfect mom" back in Minneapolis, when you weren't even close to it! You've always been so busy with your work that most of the time it didn't even feel like Matt and I even had a mom. Well I'm sorry, but we're not in Minneapolis anymore and I still need a mom!"

"Well I'm sorry for trying to provide you with the best of everything!" Mrs. Greenly said.

"Oh please! That's a bunch of bull!" Sarai said as tears started trickling down her cheeks.

"Well you have June Cleaver now. Maybe she's the perfect mom for you."

"Yeah, well at least Mrs. Walsh cares enough to listen to her kids." Sarai said as she stood up. "Excuse me, but can I please get a box?" She asked the waiter. "I want to take this home. Here's the money to cover the cost of my food. Keep the rest as a tip." Sarai said as she threw a 10 bill down on the table, packed up her food and left.

"Thanks for buying me these outfits." Sarai said as she and Cindy walked into the house. "They're great."

"Yeah, well I thought you might like to look a little more "Beverly Hills" and a lot less "Minneapolis."" Cindy said as she hung her purse up in the hall closet. "So where did you go to school in Minneapolis?" She asked as she joined Sarai, who was sitting on the couch.

"I went to Edison High." Sarai replied.

"Brenda and Brandon went to Washburn High."

Sarai looked away from Cindy, then looked down at the floor. She was thinking of the confrontation she'd had with her mom earlier.  
"Honey, are you alright?" Cindy asked Sarai, sounding concerned.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sarai said, shifting her attention back to Cindy. "When I met my mom this afternoon, it didn't go well. She accused me of trying to break her and my dad up."

"Oh, Honey! I'm sorry." Cindy said.

"Don't be. I got a lot of stuff off my chest and I feel better now."

A door slammed in the kitchen. Brenda and Brandon walked into the living room.

"Hi guys." Brandon said. "What's up, Sarai?"

"How'd your meeting with your mom go?" Brenda asked as she took off her shoes.

"Let's just say that things were said and she'll probably never speak to me again." Sarai answered.

"So, Brandon, what exactly happened Sarai escaped? Robert asked. He, Brandon and Sarai were sitting in the living room.

"He returned with a handgun and threatened to kill me for coming to help Sarai. I tried to get him to put the gun down and then he pulled the trigger. I tried to move out of the way of the bullet, but it got me here in the arm." Brandon said as he showed Robert his arm.

"Interesting." Robert said as he studied Brandon's arm. "Sarai, you said earlier that you wanted to press charges. You need to know that enough evidence has been gathered so far to create a good case for you, and if you really want to win we should be prepared to put together the best case possible. Was Brandon the only one who witnessed what was happening to you, Sarai?"

"Yes." Sarai replied, sitting up on the couch.

"Then he'll need to be prepared to tell the judge just exactly what he saw and heard last night. He's very important to your case." Robert replied.

Brandon shook his head in agreement.

"Well I need to go now, but I'll start on your paperwork and get those papers served for you and we'll keep in contact." Robert said as he headed to the front door. Sarai and Brandon got up from the couch and walked over to the door and shook his hand.

"You kids try to stay out of trouble and call me if you need anything." He said as he opened the front door and left.

"We will." Sarai said. "Thank you."

"When did you decide you wanted to press charges?" Brandon asked Sarai.

"After I talked to Mom this afternoon. We got into an argument. But it's OK, though. I got a lot of stuff off of my chest."

Brenda walked into the living followed by Dylan.

"So?" She asked.

"I'm pressing charges." Sarai said as she turned to Brenda.

"Who's this?" Dylan asked.

"You know, I'm so glad you asked!" Brenda said. "Dylan, this is Sarai. Sarai, this is Dylan McKay, my boyfriend and Brandon's best friend. Sarai just moved here from Minneapolis."

"Another Minneapolis beauty. Hi, Sarai." Dylan said, smiling at her. "I hope you don't mind, but Brenda told me all about why you're here. She thinks you and I could become good friends."

"You told!" Sarai asked Brenda, mortified that one of her best friends would do that to her.

"It's OK." Dylan said, trying to calm her down. "Your secret's safe with me. I don't have the best relationship with my parents, either. My parents are divorced. My mom abandoned me when I was younger to go live in Hawaii and my dad is in jail."

"I'm sorry." Sarai said. Maybe this would be a new friend, someone she could actually talk to.

"C'mon, Bren. Let's go so they can talk." Brandon said as he put his arm around Brenda. The two of them walked upstairs.

"I'm sorry he did that to you, Sarai." Dylan said.

"You ever feel like your whole world is crashing down on you and no matter what you try to do to escape it you just can't?" Sarai asked, pacing the room.

"I know that feeling very well." Dylan replied. "You feel like the people who said they loved you have completely turned their backs on you, shut you out their lives and completely betrayed you."

"So you start to shut other people out of your life because you're afraid of being hurt again if you let anyone else get close to you." Sarai said.

Dylan nodded in understanding.

"I didn't have any other friends in Minneapolis. When I moved here, I didn't want any friends here, either. But I met Brandon on my first day at West Beverly, and despite the fact that I didn't want any friends, he kept insisting on talking to me. Frankly, it bugged the hell out of me." Sarai said.

Dylan let out a little laugh. "Yeah, he has a way of doing that, doesn't he?"

"Now I'm glad that he did that. I've actually become good friends with the Walshes and I actually feel more closer to them than I do my own family." Sarai said.

"You're with a good family, Sarai." Dylan said. "They've been like a family to me, too. And you'll be alright. From what Brenda's told me, it sounds like you have a lot of spunk."

"Thanks." Sarai replied. "I think you're pretty cool and I think we'll be great friends."

"Me too." Dylan said, smiling at Sarai.


End file.
